A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF CHINESE CHARACTERS (WORDS):
 
Unlike most other languages in the world, Chinese is unique because it is NOT constructed based on a Phonetic System.  

English language is based on a Phonetic System. It has 26 letters in the alphabet.  Pretty much all the words we speak, write or read with are formed by different combinations and arrangements of these letters. Chinese, on the other hand, does not have a small set of letters.  

Each Chinese word is called a Character. It is formed by "strokes" -- lines and dots combined to "draw" a pattern that represents a specific meaning.  

Let's take a look at some Chinese "words": 
 

 
North
[bei]/3
 
Maple
[feng]/1
 
Middle
[zhong]/1
 
Country
[guo]/2
 

North Country
 

Middle Country = China
Each character in the first row is an individual word. The letters in brackets [ ] indicate the pronunciation -- the number after that is the "tone" of that character. We will discuss TONES in a much later stage. For now, all you need to notice is how each character fills more or less a squarish "block". The "stroke count" of each Chinese Character ranges from 1 to above 20.  

For example:  

Sky = is written with 4 strokes and  

Talk=is written with more than 15 strokes. 

And -- means "CHAT" -- talking about everything under the sky! 

The second row shows how phrases and combination ideas are formed in Chinese -- North + Country = North Country; Middle + Country = Middle Country. Pretty simple and straightforward.  

Now, see if you can guess what this is -- If  

= Electricity, Electric, or Electronic AND = Brain THEN what is  (Click here for answer...) 

Did you guess it right? 

Now.. let's venture on to the Next Page.